Stargate Atlantis: The Past Returns
by Narek
Summary: There is a lot about Ronon that the team didn't know but now they're about to get more than they bargained for.


**Stargate Atlantis Fanfiction: The Past Returns**

Ronon of the planet Sateda, walked down the hallways of Atlantis, city of the Ancients. He wasn't going anywhere in particular and that was why when he heard over the intercom that he was being called to the control room, he saw it as a welcomed release from his boredom. It didn't take him long to get there and when he did he was greeted by Dr. Elizabeth Weir, the head of the Atlantis Expedition and Coronal John Shepherd, the head of their lead team to which Ronon was part of.

"What's up?" he asked.

"We just got word of a Wraith planned culling on a planet we've labeled X7-909," Weir replied.

"Yeah, we get that information all the time, why are you telling me?" Ronon asked.

"Well you know we usually send a team to warn them but I thought maybe we should be the team to go," Shepherd replied.

"Is there reason you want to go?" Ronon asked.

"Me, no, but I thought you would want to go," Shepherd replied and by the way Ronon looked at him, he was questioning why and so he decided to elaborate, "well I don't know if you knew this but this is a planet where a lot of Satedians went to after the destruction of your home planet." That revelation took Ronon by surprise. He knew that some of his people had survived the Wraith attack and he had tried to find them but when they didn't want to be found they wouldn't be. That was why this news came as more of a shock than usual.

"How did you find out they were there?" he asked.

"According to protocol, we have already sent a team to scour the area and they came back with this news, apparently they heard it from some of the locals," Shepherd replied.

"You're right Shepherd, I want to go," he said.

"I figured you would, I'll call everyone else, be ready to go in half an hour," he replied and Ronon nodded.

When they arrived on the planet, they were greeted by the Atlantis team that was sent there beforehand. The team was led by Major Lorne and he was the one who walked up to them when they arrived.

"Lorne, what's the news?" Shepherd asked.

"Well sir, they've been warned and are planning to leave, they were thankful for the warning," Lorne replied.

"And they have no qualms with leaving their homes?" Teyla asked.

"Well most these people are nomadic, they are quite comfortable with moving, that is basically what they do to escape the Wraith," Lorne replied.

"That must be why the Satedians are here," Rodney replied.

"Do you know where any of them are?" Ronon asked.

"Well as you know, they don't exactly make themselves known but I think you'd have better luck bringing them out," Lorne replied and they agreed, so they headed into town.

People all around were preparing whatever they could for their relocation through the Stargate. Everyone else was following Ronon as he looked around. After awhile he was about to give up, perhaps the intelligence was wrong, when, all of a sudden, he heard his name from behind him. When he turned around he saw a man waving to him.

"Ronon, hey Ronon!" the man yelled and Ronon smiled.

"Maven!" Ronon yelled and when the two men got together, they gave each other a monster hug.

"Man, I thought you were dead," Maven said, loudly and clearly.

"Me, I thought you were dead," Ronon said back.

"Well, I'm glad we were both wrong then," Maven said, "you have no idea how good it is to see you're okay."

"Yeah, who else is here, anyone we knew?" Ronon asked.

"Of course, what was I thinking I'll take you to see them, let's see, there's Tishna and Varush, Talgo and Ceska," he said and then a thought seemed to strike him, "oh man, you know Ileana is going to be thrilled to see you." Right then, Ronon got absolutely serious and he looked as if someone had just kicked him in the gut.

"Ileana's alive?" he asked and he said that with complete shock and disbelief in his face.

"Yeah, you didn't know," Maven asked.

"Where is she?" he asked, quite quickly.

"Well, I last saw here helping in the tavern," Maven said and before he could say anything else, Ronon took off running to where he had pointed.

"Ronon!" Shepherd yelled as they all began to run after him. Ronon didn't stop running until he got to the tavern and burst through the door. There were a few people in there and Ronon looked around but didn't see who he was looking for. He thought maybe that Maven was wrong but then from a little way ahead, a few people parted and there she was, a young woman in her early twenties. She didn't notice him at first but as she turned around and saw him, their eyes locked. There was a moment of silence between them before they both smiled huge grins but it was her who spoke first.

"Ronon, oh my god, is it really you?" she said in disbelief just before she ran to him and they hugged deeply. Shepherd and the others just stood at the door and watched all of this in confusion. Maven was with them and he was standing next to Shepherd when he decided to inquire as to what was going on.

"Okay, am I missing something, who is she?' he asked.

"Oh, that's Ileana, Ronon's sister," Maven said and now was the time for them all to be shocked.

It took a lot of time until the reunion between Ronon and his sister was done. She and Maven also reunited him with some of his other friends. There were introductions all around between Ronon's new and old friends. Since the Wraith weren't due until tomorrow, they had time to talk. Ronon seemed to be in a very different mood than he usually was, he was happy. Usually, he was so serious but apparently his sister lightened his mood. The Atlantis team was so shocked to hear he had a sister, he never mentioned her. Although, that shouldn't be unusual, he never talked about his past much, or even, ever.

"How did you survive, I saw you die," Ronon said and Ileana looked solemn.

"I remember that day very well, and no, as you can see, I didn't die," she said and then she seemed to go back into her memories.

(Flashback)

Ileana ran through the war torn streets of Sateda as she tried to dodge the wraith ships that were taking people off the planet. There were Wraith soldiers on the ground but the Satedian soldiers were fighting them. She did her best to dodge them as she made her way to find her brother. She knew that Ronon was defending the center city and so that was where she headed to. She knew that she should have followed her brother's advice and left with some of the others but she wouldn't leave without him. He was all she had. When she got there, she looked all around and finally saw him.

"Ronon!" she yelled and he was shocked to see her.

"Ileana, what are you still doing here, I thought I told you to leave with the last group," he said as he came up to her.

"I won't leave you," she said and he half smiled, but he was still extremely worried about her.

"Okay, follow me," he said amidst gun fire. He knew he was needed in the battle, but his sister was first and foremost on his mind. He took her hand and they began to leave when they heard a whining coming from above them. They stopped and Ronon looked up to see a wraith bomb coming straight at them.

"Run!" he yelled to everyone and all there ran as fast as they could and in the mayhem, he lost Ileana's hand and she fell. He was rushed away from her as she tried to get up. There was then an explosion and Ronon saw that Ileana had been right in the middle of it.

"Ileana!" he yelled as he was continually shoved by the running people and all he could do was let them take him away from the dead.

(End Flashback)

Both Ronon and Ileana remembered it all and they both seemed nostalgic about it all.

"No, Ronon, I wasn't killed by that bomb, the funny thing is, I thought you were," she said.

"How did you escape the Wraith culling?" Teyla asked and a look passed over her features that passed quickly and no one knew what it was but they didn't think much of it.

"I was unconscious for I don't know how long; the Wraith must have believed that I was dead because when I awoke, it was all over and so I made my way off the planet, there was nothing left. I then made my way from one planet to the next, doing whatever I could to get by."

"Well, now, things are going to be different, you're going to come back to Atlantis with me," he said and that caused a glance or two from Shepherd and the others.

"Uh, Ronon, maybe we should talk about this," Shepherd said and Ronon looked to him.

"What's there to talk about, she has no where else to go, so either she comes with us, or I go with her," he stated and so Shepherd looked to everyone else who had the same look on their faces.

The wormhole to the Atlantis base opened up and Dr. Weir waited patiently for the team to arrive. It only took a few moments before Shepherd and his team came through along with Major Lorne's team and their newest arrival, Ronon's sister Ileana. When she came in, she was obviously awed by everything she saw. Weir smiled at that because she remembered her first reaction to the lost city of the Ancients. It is so beyond anything that they could ever dream of, now as well as before.

"Amazing Ronon, you actually live here," she said as she looked around.

"For a year and a half," he said.

"Would you like a tour?" Weir asked and Ileana finally noticed that she was there. She was introduced to Weir and she accepted that tour, as long as it was Ronon who took her around. Everyone agreed and thus Ronon took his sister around the city of the ancestors.

Ileana was notably interested by the whole city and she wanted to know everything that Ronon had been through since Sateda. She was very concerned with the fact that he had been a runner and was perturbed by it.

"I can't imagine what you've been through, I'm so sorry," she said and Ronon nodded.

"Thanks," he said, "but it's okay, it's over, now, the only thing I can do is move on and now that you're here, you can move on to." Right then, she was obviously disturbed by something, but she held it back as much as she could. Although, Ronon knew his sister, so he called her on it.

"What's wrong?" he asked and she left her concerned look behind her and forced a smile.

"Nothing, you're right, we can move on, there's nothing to stop us," she said and Ronon decided to get on with the day.

Days and weeks passed and things in Atlantis got back to normal, except it seemed, with Ronon. He seemed like a different person, lighter. They had not seen him this happy in a long time, usually when he was in a fight. It seemed that his sister brought out a side of him that they had hardly ever seen. Ileana herself seemed happy but there were times when she seemed in another place. Nobody seemed to notice too much but they did notice that she didn't talk about the past much. Ronon asked but she would glaze over it and not get into much detail. It didn't matter much to them but it did to the other members of the team. So, when Shepherd was called into Dr. Weir's office, he figured that, that could be the topic of conversation.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked as he got there and he was surprised to see that McKay was there to.

"John, yes, Rodney has detected a minor breach of security," she said and Shepherd became immediately concerned.

"Where?" he asked.

"In one of the lab computers in the west section of the city," McKay replied.

"That is sometimes a well traveled spot, what was accessed?" Shepherd continued.

"Nothing major, just minor city schematics and a few other things, like I said, nothing major but the code used was an old, one, so I want you to keep an eye open," Weir replied and Shepherd agreed.

"Is that it?" he asked and Weir looked up at him.

"Actually, I also wanted to know how Ileana was doing."

"Good that I know of, she and Ronon spend a lot of time together and she seems to be getting along with everyone," he replied.

"Has she mentioned anything else about her past?" Weir asked.

"No, but then again, Ronon would know better than me," he replied.

"Would you ask him, I just want to cover all the bases," she replied.

"You don't trust her?" McKay asked.

"No, if Ronon trusts her then I do, but," she began, but she didn't need to finish.

"You just want to be sure," Shepherd replied. As head of the military command on Atlantis he knew just as Elizabeth did that they had to be absolutely sure. Atlantis was very important and they had to protect it at all costs. Everyone on the base knew this and at times it was difficult, but some things were bigger than any one person.

After Shepherd left Weir's office, he went to find Ronon. When he did find him, he was in the gym sparring with Ileana. Shepherd didn't bother them at first, he just watched. Apparently, fighters on Sateda were all good. Ileana fought with the same zeal as Ronon and she could even best him at times. Usually, no one on Atlantis could win over Ronon but she was just as good as he was. When the fight was over, it was Ileana who stood over Ronon. They just smiled at one another as Shepherd made his presence known.

"Wow and here I thought you were top dog in battle scenarios," Shepherd said as Ileana helped Ronon up and they turned to Shepherd.

"Well, apparently, I don't need to be around to teach her new tricks," Ronon replied and Ileana smiled.

"You know, I always could beat him, and don't think he was holding back, he can't help giving it his all no matter what he says," she replied and Shepherd agreed with that. There were a lot of times where Ronon beat him and that was when he was hardly even trying.

"You guys almost finished, I need to talk to Ronon for a moment, work stuff, you know," Shepherd said and Ronon looked at him oddly but shrugged.

"Yeah, we're done," Ileana said, "I have to clean up anyway." She then went and picked up her stuff and then began to walk out.

"Later, we'll eat," Ronon said and she nodded before she left. After she was gone, Ronon went to get his stuff together.

"So, what's up?" he asked.

"Oh, Rodney just caught some unauthorized access into the Atlantis computer with an old code and Weir wants us to keep our eyes open," he said and Ronon nodded.

"Was that it?" he asked.

"Well actually, Weir . . . and the rest of us, wanted to know if Ileana told you anything else about her past?"

"No, but I'm sure she will, I'm not going to push her," he replied.

"Well, it's just that . . . " Shepherd began.

"You think that she was the one who broke into the database?" he said, a little accusingly.

"No, of course not, it's just; we want to cover all our bases."

"Well, you shouldn't, I trust her, that is all that should matter, and as far as her telling us about what she has gone through, I can tell that by talking to her, it pains her and when she's ready, she'll tell me, I know she will." Ronon seemed to be getting angrier the more he talked and so Shepherd figured that he had pushed enough.

"I hope you're right," he said.

"I know I am," he said and they both just stared at each other. While they talked and argued, they were unaware that just outside the door, Ileana stood listening. After they were done talking, she just seemed to contemplate a few things before she finally left.

As more time passed, Ileana still seemed stubborn on what she told Ronon. It seemed, she did fill him in on some things but only a few things. He did share the memories that she had revealed with the others and they seemed to be getting satisfied. There were also no more intrusions into the computers, at least that they could detect. Everything was good, but even though they were getting satisfied, he wasn't. Perhaps it was because he knew her, but he knew that she was holding something back, something big. So, that was where he was heading, to get to the bottom of it for good. Ileana had been given a room near his and when he entered, he found her there. She saw him enter and smiled.

"Hey," she said, getting up to greet him, "what do I owe this visit?"

"Actually, I've been thinking, I know you probably need more time, but I think that I've given you enough time, I want to talk about what happened after the attack on Sateda," Ronon replied and the smile completely left her face.

"I thought we were done with all of that, don't you trust me?" she asked.

"Of course I do, but I also know you and I know that you've been hiding something and I want to know what it is," he replied.

"Does it matter, you always told me to leave the past in the past," she replied.

"Yeah, but maybe I can help, but I definitely can't help you if you don't be honest with me." Ileana seemed to think really long and hard about that before she looked him in the eyes.

"Okay," she said and then she went and sat down, "it was a long time ago, but there were things that I had to do to survive that were less than noble, I had to cheat some people and I had to do things that I never thought I was capable of." Ronon then came over and sat by her.

"Who was it?" he asked, already knowing what she wasn't saying.

"Tolson," she said, "I traveled with him for a little while and then we were on a planet during a Wraith culling." As she talked, particularly when she mentioned the Wraith, she had some particular venom in her voice that only came from someone the Wraith had made a particular hell out of ones life.

"When they attacked, we tried to get to the gate but he fell behind right when a dart was coming at us, I saw it coming and I left him." As she talked and said the last part, she was close to tears. Ronon was a little taken back.

"You left him to die at the hands of the Wraith," he said and she nodded sorrowfully.

"There aren't a lot of things that scare me, but I can't help but fear the Wraith," she said and she seemed particularly miserable. They sat there in silence for a long time as Ronon thought of what to say.

"It wasn't your fault," he said and she looked at him, "if it's anyone's fault, it is the Wraith, they are a plague on this galaxy and one way or another, we'll kill them all." Ileana looked at him with an odd look on her face and Ronon smiled at her. She then eventually smiled back.

"Now see, isn't it better to get all that stuff off your chest," he said and she sighed.

"Yeah, it is, you were right," she said and then he got up and she got up with him.

"I'm glad you finally told me, now hopefully we can all truly move on," Ronon said and Ileana agreed, "well, I'm going to be going on a mission later, but when I get back, we'll do something."

"Right, the mission to Talgera, right," she said and he was taken off guard by that.

"Yeah, how did you know?" he asked and she looked at him.

"You told me remember," she said and he nodded.

"Right, I must have forgotten," he said and then they said goodbye and he left, but his bad feeling stayed with him.

When the team arrived on the planet there was so sign of activity and so they continued on their mission. Their mission for this planet was only to scour the area for any signs of habitation. Their initial scans showed nothing but this had been a hub of ancient activity according to the database. As more time passed there however, they found nothing of interest. When the ancients left, they must have taken everything with them.

"Well, this was a complete waste of time, we should head back," McKay said and they couldn't help but agree.

"Yeah, you're right, let's head back to the gate," Shepherd replied and then he said over the radio to the other team that came with them, "Lorne, we're calling off the search and heading back to the gate." Major Lorne, whose team was watching the gate for any activity acknowledge his signal and was about to start to dial the gate back home when it began to activate itself.

"Incoming!" Lorne yelled to his team just before he communicated over the radio to Shepherd, "Colonel Shepherd, we have an incoming wormhole." Shepherd heard him and they all immediately went for the gate. At the gate, a few Wraith darts came out and everyone went for cover. The darts used their beaming up technology to bring down Wraith that they engaged in battle whilst they tried to dodge the darts that tried to beam them up into them. Lucky of them, they were close enough to the gate that all they had to do was to wait for it to shut down and once it did, they dialed out. Lorne and his team held off the Wraith from the gate while Shepherd and his team made their own way to them. Teyla and McKay were on point while Shepherd and Ronon brought up the rear. They managed to hold them off as they finally arrived at the Stargate where Lorne had just lost one member of his team. Since they were together now, they were able to add more gun fire and that got them through the gate.

On the other side of the event horizon, Elizabeth was in her office when her attention was caught by the gate's activation. She immediately got up and went to the control room where she asked what was going on.

"Incoming transmission, it's Major Lorne, they're under fire and coming in hot," the tech said and Elizabeth immediately told everyone to go on alert. After that, they waited only a few moments before Lorne, Shepherd and their teams came through and after Elizabeth saw that they were all in, they sent up the shield. Once it went up, there were a few blasts toward it signaling Wraith who had tried to come through but which were killed instantly. The gate then shut down and Elizabeth ran down to see what had happened. Everyone seemed no worse for ware, but Major Lorne had lost two of his men.

"What happened?" Weir asked as she came down the stairs.

"Wraith, lots of them," McKay replied.

"How did they know that you were there?" Weir asked.

"I don't know," Shepherd replied, but Ronon wasn't so sure.

"Where's Ileana?" he asked.

"I don't know, but we can find out?" Weir said.

"Good, we should," he said as they made their way to the control room and as they did, everyone else was confused.

"What's wrong Ronon?" Shepherd asked, "you think Ileana tipped off the Wraith?" When John said that, Ronon didn't answer, they all knew that he was hoping not. After a moment, they managed to isolate one separate life sign on the detectors. When they went to check what that life sign was doing there, the tech at the consol filled them in.

"We are getting news that whoever is there is on one of the computers and tapping into the database," the tech said and Ronon didn't wait to hear anymore, he immediately began his way there. Shepherd and the others looked where he was going before they followed him.

"Ronon, what are you doing?" Teyla asked, but he didn't answer. After a few moments, they reached the section where, when they went in, they found Ileana at one of the consoles. She had her back to them and didn't face them but they knew that she knew they were there.

"Ileana, what are you doing?" Ronon asked, but she still didn't turn around.

"You got back safely I see, I knew you would, they didn't, but I did," she said, without turning around.

"So it was you, you tipped off the Wraith we were on the planet, why?" Ronon asked and she laughed a little.

"It's not like I had a choice in the matter," she said and when she said that, they could all hear the deep emotion in her voice.

"Step away from the console Ileana," Ronon said.

"I wish I could," she said as she began again punching keys on the panel. They got word from the control room that she was initiating a long range beacon to alert the Wraith to their presence. They all heard that and some of the soldiers with them, held up their weapons at her.

"Ileana, stop!" Ronon yelled and that was when she finally turned around and she looked like she was struggling with her own mind.

"I can't, I'm sorry," she said and she was about to initiate the last command when Ronon fired at the console causing her to jump back. She then looked at them hatefully before she grabbed her own weapon that she had and held it up at them. The others were about to shoot when Ronon stopped them.

"No, don't!" he yelled as he stepped in front of their weapons, holding up his arms at them. He then turned to Ileana who still held up her own weapon at him.

"Ileana, put it down," he said.

"I'm sorry Ronon, I can't, she won't let me," she said.

"What are you talking about, the Wraith?" he asked.

"She's in my head Ronon, I can't get her out, and it's all your fault," she said, with clear anger in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"They knew I was your sister, and whatever they sensed in you, they tried to find it in me, they tortured me Ronon, there was so much pain," she said and right then she had to stop, it seemed too much for her to bare.

"Ileana, we can help you, let us help you," he said.

"No one can help me," she said and then she and Ronon stared deeply at each other.

"We can, just let us," Ronon said, but she shook her head.

"There's only one way to help me," she said and then she lowered her weapon, "you can end this before anyone else gets hurt." Ronon heard that, but he didn't believe it.

"No," he said, "never."

"You don't have a choice here Ronon, kill me or I'll kill you," she said and then she got angry and stared at him, "shoot me!" She yelled the last part at him and while he still had his weapon poised at her, he still didn't shoot.

"No, I can't," he said as he lowered his weapon and turned away from her. As he did, something came over her and she raised her weapon at him. Everyone else noticed and yelled out to him in warning.

"Ronon, watch out!" Shepherd yelled and Ronon reacted just in time before she could shoot. On instinct, he turned around and knelt down to shoot and the blast hit her and she fell. After it happened, his face went completely ashen. He went quickly to her side and took her in his arms. The others went at him and they too were shocked.

"Is she okay?" Weir asked.

"My weapon was at stun, she'll be okay . . . she'll be okay," he said, but he was still at a point where he couldn't believe what he had just done.

When Ileana awoke, she found herself in one of the cells in Atlantis. She saw this and got up quickly to see Ronon outside the charged cell.

"You shot me," she said.

"Yes, I'm sorry," he said and she looked away from him, "what happened, what did the Wraith do to you?" Ileana didn't answer at first; she couldn't even look him in the eye.

"Things you can't even imagine, pain like you couldn't even know," she replied.

"You said before that "she" was in your mind, who?"

"A Wraith Queen of course, but you knew that," she said, "she's a constant voice in my head, she can control me too, and she won't stop until you are all dead."

"She knows her way here?" Ronon asked and Ileana nodded.

"Of course and if she so pleases, she'll share what she knows with the other Wraith, even if she isn't on good speaking terms with them, but no matter what she does with the other Wraith, she'll come here and destroy you all." Ronon looked at her one last time before he reluctantly left. He went to meet with the others in the briefing room where they were all very worried.

"It is a Wraith Queen controlling her, we were right and it's quite possible that, that queen is on her way here," Ronon said.

"How is that possible, you checked her when she came to Atlantis, she was fine wasn't she?" Weir asked, looking to Dr. Beckett.

"I did, but at the time, her DNA showed no sign of what we found in her blood sample this time," Beckett replied.

"What did you find?" Teyla asked.

"More importantly, why now?" Rodney asked.

"The best that I can figure, it was put on a timer and once she was near, whatever it was, began to over write pieces of her DNA which allowed the Wraith to gain her control," Beckett explained.

"If the Wraith are coming, we should cloak the city," McKay said.

"That won't work as long as Ileana is here," Shepherd said and they all looked to Ronon. They were all silent, waiting for him to blow as he looked like he was going to, but nothing happened. He seemed to get a handle on his emotions and took a deep breath.

"You're right, we have to get her out of here," he said and they could all see how much this hurt him to say.

"You may be right," Weir said.

"First, this DNA thing you mentioned, is there any way to fix it, to help her?" Ronon asked.

"I have done some initial scans and they aren't good," Beckett replied, "maybe, if I knew more about what the Wraith did to her, I could, but," Beckett said as he shook his head remorsefully.

"Well, if you need it, I'll get it for you," Ronon said and they all looked at him shockingly.

"Tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking," Shepherd said.

"The Wraith ship is on its way here, we know this, if we can intercept it, get on board, we can blow it to living hell, as you would say," Ronon said.

"You're serious," Shepherd said and from the look on his face, he knew he was.

"I'm sorry Ronon, I can't allow you to risk that," Weir said.

"She's my sister, I have to do this, I'll go alone if I have to, but I am going," he said and Shepherd shook his head.

"No way am I going to let you do that," he said, "I'll go with you, if the ship is coming here anyway, we should head it off and destroy it before it gets here or informs the other Wraith that Atlantis wasn't destroyed." Weir listened to John talk and he was making some good points that she couldn't deny. Eventually, she decided to let Ronon go ahead with his plan, as long as the team went with him.

After they were ready, Ronon made one last visit to his sister. When he arrived, she didn't look well, she was sweating and taking deep breaths.

"What's wrong?" he asked, very concerned.

"This happens a lot, if I don't do what she asks me to, if I don't complete my mission, the pain is tremendous," she said, slowly and carefully.

"Don't worry, I'm going to find a way to help you even if I have to kill every last Wraith in this galaxy to do it," he said and he got her attention by looking in her eyes, "I promise." She managed a small smile as they stared at each other and she nodded. Ronon then reluctantly left and met up with the other members of the team.

They managed to find the coordinates of the planet where the Wraith ship on its way to Atlantis would pass by. They gated to that planet and took a puddle jumper which they flew above and cloaked. After they were cloaked and waiting, the Wraith ship arrived after about an hour. Since they were cloaked, they managed to board the Wraith ship undetected. They landed far enough away from any Wraith presence to get out again without being seen. Ronon and Shepherd led the way since they were both the lead fighters. Although, it was Ronon who led the way, mostly due to the fact that it was he who had the most to be here for. Their plan was to go straight for the queen and get what they wanted from her. Plan B was to set up secondary explosions where it would take down the whole ship. McKay, Teyla and the other members of the team went to go do this while Ronon and Shepherd went alone to find the queen. It took a lot of convincing for them to go alone, the others didn't like to go without backup.

"At least take two of the soldiers with you," Teyla suggested.

"No, the less we take with us, the less conspicuous we will be," Shepherd replied, "besides, I think with the way Ronon is feeling right now, he is all the army we will need." When Shepherd said that last part, they all looked to Ronon who was a little ways away looking out for any Wraith that could sneak up on them. They looked to him and then looked back to each other and nodded.

"You're right, you go," McKay said and they all looked to one another before they all split up and went their separate ways.

Ronon led the way and whenever they heard a Wraith, they had to duck out of sight. None of those distractions seemed to stop Ronon. He had the look of sheer determination on his face and something else Shepherd had never seen before. The look seemed to be between determination and utter pain. They made their way straight for the queen's lair and as it was, they made great time. When they were outside, Ronon and Shepherd surveyed the inside where they saw the queen and about four other Wraith doing various things. Shepherd looked to Ronon who looked back at him and Shepherd didn't even have to look at him to know what he was thinking.

"Let's go," Ronon said and Shepherd took one deep breath before they both pulled out their guns and ran into the room. The Wraith saw them come in but they were too late to act, especially with Ronon feeling like he was. Shepherd took out two of the Wraith closest to him while Ronon took on those that were closest to him. Ronon, in the state that he was in, could have taken on the whole Hive and survived. As it was, taking on these few Wraith took him no time at all. They both knew that they would have to take out the guards fast because the queen would be their biggest problem. When the lesser Wraith were taken care of, Ronon pulled his weapon and put it right in the queen's face. They both then had a stare down with Shepherd standing a little ways away. As the queen looked at Ronon, a look of recognition came over her.

"You look familiar," she said.

"You know my sister, Ileana," he said and the queen smiled.

"Oh, yes, my pet," she said and the look on her face made Ronon, if possible, get angrier.

"Whatever you did to her, I want you to undo it," he seethed.

"Even if I could, why would I?" she asked.

"You don't, you die," he said.

"You seem confident about that, but you know that if you kill me, then she will never be saved." As this conversation was going on, Shepherd was looking around nervously, waiting for other Wraith to make their appearance. He knew that Wraith could communicate with each other telepathically and he wondered why this Wraith didn't call for help yet. The queen must have noticed Shepherd's unease because she looked to him.

"Oh, don't worry, my fellow Wraith will be here, don't you worry, and when they do, we will feast on you and on you," she then looked to Ronon, "maybe we'll wait and perhaps you can serve us as well as your sister has." After saying that, the queen smiled her diabolical smile and that sent Ronon over the edge. He shot her in the shoulder and hit her hard, causing her to fall. He was obviously done messing around and held his gun right at her forehead as he leaned over her.

"Enough! Can you fix Ileana or not?" he seethed.

"No," she said and Ronon stared at her right in the eye just before he shot her, killing her. He then got up and stared at Shepherd. What Shepherd saw was something he had never seen on Ronon's face before, hopelessness.

"We should go before any other Wraith show up," Shepherd said and Ronon reluctantly nodded. As they made their way out, Shepherd signaled to the others that they were on their way. As they did, they felt miniature explosions happen all over the Hive. Everyone met at the jumper but not without a lot of resistance. Along with the explosions, the Wraith had other things to worry about, like trying to keep their ship from exploding. They managed to all get in the ship and they didn't lose any of their team either. As they flew away from the exploding Hive, Ronon didn't say a word. Rodney, however, managed to bring in some good news.

"You might want to know I managed to download a lot of the Hive's raw data, so there could be something in there to help your sister," he said and that seemed to make Ronon feel a little bit better but he didn't look it.

When they finally got back to Atlantis Rodney put all the information that he got from the Hive into the Atlantis database. Beckett started going over it immediately and hours later he went to Elizabeth and the others to make his report.

"Well, I managed to shift through a lot of the work and there is a mention of the experiment on your sister but it is extensive, it's going to take me awhile to go through it," Beckett explained.

"How long?" Ronon asked.

"Finding out what they did isn't the problem, reversing it will be, months, perhaps even years," he said and then he looked Ronon straight in the eye, "I'm sorry." Ronon knew that he was, but it didn't make things any better.

"So what do we do?" he asked.

"I have an idea on that, but I don't think you're going to like it," McKay said and everyone looked at him waiting for an explanation.

Later, after McKay's explanation, Ronon went to go see his sister. As it was, things with her were starting to get worse. They had to move her to the infirmary and they posted a few guards just to be safe. When Ronon saw her, he saw that she didn't look good at all and it broke his heart to see her this way. She was conscious and when she saw him come in, she managed a small smile. He smiled back at her as he went and sat besides her. From the look on his face, she knew the answer for her.

"You didn't find a way to help me," she said.

"We might have, we just don't know yet, it just will take some time," he said and she looked hopeless.

"Ronon, I can't live like this, the pain is just too much, I don't want to live like this," she said. Ronon saw how much pain she was in and not just physical, so he put his hand on hers which caused her to look at him.

"We do have a way to help you so you won't feel any more pain, we have a device created by the Ancestor's, it will put you to sleep and you can stay that way until we find a cure."

"And you're sure they'll find it?" she asked.

"We have the best doctors anywhere, I promise you, I will not stop until you're okay, after all, it's my job isn't it," he said and he gave her a small smile. She tried to give him one too, but it didn't come out.

"Look, it's up to you, if you want to do this," he said.

"I don't really have a choice do I?" she said and then she thought a little while, before finishing, "I'll do it." Ronon then nodded and just held her hand, trying to comfort her but knowing there wasn't a lot more he could do for her.

McKay was able to get the Ancient life pod online. Long ago, they had found an older Elizabeth Weir in there and it had sustained her for ten thousand years and so it could sustain Ileana for as long as it needed to. Everyone was there as they brought Ileana in. When she saw it, she took a deep breath and looked to Ronon.

"I want you to know, I'm so sorry for everything I did to you," she said.

"You never had to apologize," he said. He then hugged her tightly and she him. When they let go, Ronon led her to the pod and she stepped inside.

"I love you Ronon," she said and he nodded.

"I love you too," he said and as they looked at each other McKay activated the pod. As he did so, the pod was filled with ice covering her entirely and there she slept. Ronon never took his eyes off the pod as he walked slowly up to it. He put his hand on it and no one there knew what to make of what he was doing. He stood there for a long while before he simply walked out. No one followed him because they knew that there was nothing they could say that could possibly make him feel any better. They would simply leave him alone because they were sure that he would have to deal with this alone in his own way and his own time.


End file.
